Near the Bridge

Product Notes

Bio of Near the Bridge: My Little Friend/Song for Gina This song is directly about my youngest daughter who has undergone heart surgeries. I'm "thankful each day as it's ended" to Children's Hospital/ Columbus Ohio for getting her through. They are doing truly heroic work and I'm forever grateful. Near the Bridge This tune comes from the idea of reaching one's destiny and relates to anyone who is striving for some goal. I used the "Bridge' because it's also autobiographical- Ponticello (Italian) means to bow a stringed instrument "near the bridge" and friends kept saying 'I should do something with that'. For me the bridge means crossing from a sad relationship to a position of new hope and happiness. Uncle Dave A song/tribute to my late uncle who survive the Normandy invasion. I did not know him well but always admired him as a comical and quirky character who "drank coffee while it's 90 degrees in the shade" before I ever knew about him being a war hero. Ausable Samba Named after the river in upstate New York - a beautiful and turbulent river surrounded by enormous cliffs and gorges- I suggest you check it out if you haven't already. Java Man (instrument) I've been a long time fan of jazz and coffee and this song combines those two. Through the nation A fictional tale from a Train Robber's point of view - I wrote this song when I was still in high school and it has held up well through the years. Droid Met Frank A tough lyric to explain: upon face value it's about witnessing a spaceship landing (fictional) but also is parallel to watching a child's birth~ my first daughter Andrea has a nickname "Droid" and Frank represents this monstrous world we live in and it seemed an extra-terrestrial experience as I watched her being born. The odd meter time signature for the songs melody came first and lyrics were an after thought. It's a Long way Home An instrumental to stretch out on, written for some lazy day or some long distance driving. Song for Andrea After arriving home from the hospital from watching Andrea's birth I picked up the guitar and this melody came to me (in part),with lyrics, attempts to capture some of her beauty and the bonding that I felt. Moose Illumination Here's another difficult lyric to describe.: I became interested in seeing moose while on a trip through the Adirondack mountains and after listening to a Captain Beefheart record one day I felt the notion to just start writing freely on some unusual subject~ the line about "hustling beer without regard for moose tears" is a comment to the moose hunter~ why kill the moose? Your Smile I found myself in a new relationship with an old friend during the time of making this record~ the chord progression seemed to flow well with her beautiful smile and it all "seems like a dream come true" and has me "seeing rainbows in her smile". Disrespected Blues (instrumental) I have respect for blues music and enjoy playing a good blues shuffle so here's to all you disrespected blues players out there. Enjoy the music! Giles Ponticello Bio of Giles Ponticello~ Aside from pursuing his solo career with his 2007 CD release for Blazing Turtle Records entitled 'Near the Bridge' and working solo and with a trio, Giles Ponticello is currently working as a guitarist with Linda Dachtyl's Blues Band/ aka LDB3 (please see LDB3 web site for more details) - LDB3 has played in and around the central Ohio area for several years with some of the areas top musicians such as Gene Walker, Tony Monaco, Sean Carney, Tom Carrol, Jim Rupp, etc... and has performed professionally at many of the top festivals and clubs in the Columbus and Dayton,Ohio regions. -Giles recorded with LDB3 on their 2006 release for Chicken Coop Records entitled 'Blue Bop' which made the top 40 jazz charts and had a cut featured in the June issue of JAZZIZ magazine - a Neil Larson composition entitled 'Sudden Samba'. Another highly acclaimed jazz band in Columbus, Ohio during the late '80s including Giles on guitar and vocals- was a group called 'Project One'- which featured many of Giles's original compositions on their debut record 'It's About Time'. The foundation for Giles's music career began when he played guitar with the 1978-1979 OSU Jazz Ensemble which is still revered by many as one of the best college Jazz Ensembles ever produced at OSU. The group won multiple awards while performing at the Phildelphia Jazz festival for NAJE (National Association of Jazz Educators), play over 40 concerts and clinics that year including a two an 1/2 week tour of California and Nevada with performances at the Reno Nevada Festival, San francisco's Keystone Koner Jazz Club, Donte's Jazz Club in North Hollywood and competed in the 21st Collegiate Jazz Festival in Notre Dame winning outstanding performance awards in big band and combo before returning to Columbus to record their album entitled 'Acorn's Tavern'.

Bio of Near the Bridge: My Little Friend/Song for Gina This song is directly about my youngest daughter who has undergone heart surgeries. I'm "thankful each day as it's ended" to Children's Hospital/ Columbus Ohio for getting her through. They are doing truly heroic work and I'm forever grateful. Near the Bridge This tune comes from the idea of reaching one's destiny and relates to anyone who is striving for some goal. I used the "Bridge' because it's also autobiographical- Ponticello (Italian) means to bow a stringed instrument "near the bridge" and friends kept saying 'I should do something with that'. For me the bridge means crossing from a sad relationship to a position of new hope and happiness. Uncle Dave A song/tribute to my late uncle who survive the Normandy invasion. I did not know him well but always admired him as a comical and quirky character who "drank coffee while it's 90 degrees in the shade" before I ever knew about him being a war hero. Ausable Samba Named after the river in upstate New York - a beautiful and turbulent river surrounded by enormous cliffs and gorges- I suggest you check it out if you haven't already. Java Man (instrument) I've been a long time fan of jazz and coffee and this song combines those two. Through the nation A fictional tale from a Train Robber's point of view - I wrote this song when I was still in high school and it has held up well through the years. Droid Met Frank A tough lyric to explain: upon face value it's about witnessing a spaceship landing (fictional) but also is parallel to watching a child's birth~ my first daughter Andrea has a nickname "Droid" and Frank represents this monstrous world we live in and it seemed an extra-terrestrial experience as I watched her being born. The odd meter time signature for the songs melody came first and lyrics were an after thought. It's a Long way Home An instrumental to stretch out on, written for some lazy day or some long distance driving. Song for Andrea After arriving home from the hospital from watching Andrea's birth I picked up the guitar and this melody came to me (in part),with lyrics, attempts to capture some of her beauty and the bonding that I felt. Moose Illumination Here's another difficult lyric to describe.: I became interested in seeing moose while on a trip through the Adirondack mountains and after listening to a Captain Beefheart record one day I felt the notion to just start writing freely on some unusual subject~ the line about "hustling beer without regard for moose tears" is a comment to the moose hunter~ why kill the moose? Your Smile I found myself in a new relationship with an old friend during the time of making this record~ the chord progression seemed to flow well with her beautiful smile and it all "seems like a dream come true" and has me "seeing rainbows in her smile". Disrespected Blues (instrumental) I have respect for blues music and enjoy playing a good blues shuffle so here's to all you disrespected blues players out there. Enjoy the music! Giles Ponticello Bio of Giles Ponticello~ Aside from pursuing his solo career with his 2007 CD release for Blazing Turtle Records entitled 'Near the Bridge' and working solo and with a trio, Giles Ponticello is currently working as a guitarist with Linda Dachtyl's Blues Band/ aka LDB3 (please see LDB3 web site for more details) - LDB3 has played in and around the central Ohio area for several years with some of the areas top musicians such as Gene Walker, Tony Monaco, Sean Carney, Tom Carrol, Jim Rupp, etc... and has performed professionally at many of the top festivals and clubs in the Columbus and Dayton,Ohio regions. -Giles recorded with LDB3 on their 2006 release for Chicken Coop Records entitled 'Blue Bop' which made the top 40 jazz charts and had a cut featured in the June issue of JAZZIZ magazine - a Neil Larson composition entitled 'Sudden Samba'. Another highly acclaimed jazz band in Columbus, Ohio during the late '80s including Giles on guitar and vocals- was a group called 'Project One'- which featured many of Giles's original compositions on their debut record 'It's About Time'. The foundation for Giles's music career began when he played guitar with the 1978-1979 OSU Jazz Ensemble which is still revered by many as one of the best college Jazz Ensembles ever produced at OSU. The group won multiple awards while performing at the Phildelphia Jazz festival for NAJE (National Association of Jazz Educators), play over 40 concerts and clinics that year including a two an 1/2 week tour of California and Nevada with performances at the Reno Nevada Festival, San francisco's Keystone Koner Jazz Club, Donte's Jazz Club in North Hollywood and competed in the 21st Collegiate Jazz Festival in Notre Dame winning outstanding performance awards in big band and combo before returning to Columbus to record their album entitled 'Acorn's Tavern'.